I have a piece of paper sitting in a box in my closet with the words Europe, South America, Central America, New Zealand, and Australia written on it. None crossed out, none experienced. It’s sometimes hard for me to admit that I haven’t done any big trips because where I’m from, just about everyone I know has done at least one or all of these places. I don’t know about you guys, but in Canada, travelling outside of our own country is often more cost-effective than travelling within. Crazy, I know. And of all these provinces, Torontonians and Calgarians love to travel outside of North America the most, and they do it often. That is, everyone but me. I have been to almost everywhere in the US, many provinces in Canada, some parts of South America, but that’s about it.
Being that I am from Calgary, of my 6 best girlfriends, I’m the only one who hasn’t done some big life-changing trip. And it can be lonely. They have the most outrageous stories, the coolest new friends, and have even fallen in love abroad. I mean, if that’s not a fairy-tale – I don’t know what is. So why haven’t I done it? Well I’m sure you can guess.
It’s my debt.
Instead of saving money to go on these amazing trips, I used to be constantly struggling to make minimum payments. It was and is an uphill battle. Having debt is a problem – like Money After Graduation writes here. Even though I’m almost over my hill, it’s still eating away at me every day, because I can’t tackle things on my bucket list.
Another substantial reason I was never able to travel was because of my sports. I always had soccer, and that meant I always had to pay for soccer fees, or gym fees to keep my training up. But now I’m getting to the age where competitive sports are no longer my bread and butter. I need something new. And I need it now.
As you know, my current plan is to have my credit card debt paid off by the New Year. If things go well, I will be able to pay off all of my debt (credit and student loan debt) by then. As soon as January hits, I will be putting away $500 a month towards mine and my fiancé’s honeymoon. And we will be going somewhere on that list. It’s important for me to have a goal as large as this, because my biggest problem is having money and not knowing what to do with it.
As much as it sucks being the only one who hasn’t been on an adventure as extreme as theirs, I know I’ve made the right decision. There are a lot of people out there who choose to spend money they don’t have now – and pay later. Foolish mistake. I don’t want my vacations to become a burden. And I won’t let them.
What are some of the best trips you’ve been on? Or if you haven’t done much travelling (like me), do you plan to take a big trip sometime in the near future? Let me know in the comments!
